The Single Best Practice Advice I've Ever Heard

An excellent way to avoid practicing is to read about it! There are quite a few books written on the subject, many of them long and some even interesting, informative and entertaining. A surprisingly large number of hours can be spent in this pursuit.

For those more visually inclined, there is also a video well worth watching: Tackling the Monster, where Wynton Marsalis offers 12 very good, useful, and practical practice tips. It shouldn't be hard to find a recap by searching online. But if you do this instead of watching the video, you'll be missing both excellent commentary and fine playing. And, most of all, you would miss my favorite tip in the video: an unscripted 13th, offered early on by guest artist Yo-Yo Ma.

In a moment of enthusiasm, Yo-Yo tells us what his teacher always used to tell him: Never make a sound without hearing it first.

I may have forgotten the exact wording. It's been several years since I saw this video. But the advice has stuck with me. These words are deep. And they sound authentic, of having originated from a deeply serious conservatory environment.

Never make a sound without hearing it first.

Implications abound. The patience required is considerable. But the payoff is well worth it.

Impossible, Inspirational Etudes: Bach Allemande

 




Score (pdf encoded as zip file) can be found here: Allemande

I had a notion to present a collection of etudes that pose exceptional technical challenges. A second, mandatory criteria would be that the piece of music should be a source of inspiration. Etudes like these can become valued, life-long practice companions.

The idea may have first arose when a friend mentioned that he liked to play the Bach Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor on his clarinet. The notion was reinforced at a Thursday afternoon oboe seminar given by Bill Bennett several years ago at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. One of the students played for us the opening of the Strauss Oboe Concerto. Bill asked the student how long he has been working on the piece, and the student gave his answer in years. Bill remarked on how the Strauss is work that one can come back to, over and over.

The Allemande is the opening movement of J.S. Bach's Second Violin Partita. It poses challenges similar to the those in the Unaccompanied Sonata in A Minor for Flute Alone: where does one breathe? How does one handle the endurance issues? And how do so while serving the long lines and phrases?

Alex Klein performs the work in the original key, making use of an oboe fitted with a low A. Having no such oboe, I transposed the work from D to both E and F. The key of E seemed a much better fit and is presented here for downloading. By moving up an entire step, there is no need to transpose the motif around beat two of measure seven up an octave, as Alex does.

This key does leave us with two awkward fingerings: the low D# to B and back in measure 2, beat 3, and the even lower B to A# in measure 5, beat 3. The old trick of rubbing the side of the nose with the pinky finger is helpful. I used to play B to D# by rocking the left pinky over the two keys. Now, I prefer sliding the right from the E-flat key and the C key. The reason for the preference: I finally learned to lighten my grip sufficiently overall, and the new pressure level accommodates this slide. Perhaps this interval is an good test of whether or not one is using a sufficiently light finger pressure.

This arrangement derives from the Bach-Gesellschaft volume, edited by Alfred Dorffel in 1879, as presented in the Dover publication: Works for Violin ISBN: 0-486-23683-8.